On the issues: Lombardo and Ford’s positions on K-12 education

Heading into the 2027 Legislature, Nevada’s governor will consider bills seeking to address the financial impacts of a declining public school population and other issues that afflict a system that regularly ranks among the worst in the nation.

Parents, faculty and students will have to wait until November to learn who that governor will be.

Gov. Joe Lombardo, who calls himself an education governor, touts improvements during his current term. Attorney General Aaron Ford, a former educator and legislator, argues that the incumbent has flunked the test.

The Nov. 3 election comes on the heels of a recent Lombardo-endorsed emergency stopgap funding plan that averted $51 million in budget cuts in Clark County, where the school district had considered eliminating hundreds of jobs and programs.

CCSD was facing the funding shortfall after the district registered about 10,400 fewer students than projected this school year. State funding is based on the current number of students. Under the four-month emergency plan, the state will consider the previously projected population.

While the emergency plan prevented job losses through the rest of the school year, officials warned the issue will not go away and will likely take center stage in education funding debates when the Nevada Legislature convenes in February.

‘Education governor’

If elected to a second term, Lombardo said in an interview Wednesday, he would “expand upon education and its success.”

The state’s education system is experiencing an upswing compared with when he took office in January 2023 and found it in dire conditions across the state, Lombardo said in a wide-ranging interview.

The governor underscored investments in new teacher recruitment and retention that include scholarships for educators.

“The vacancies went along with that and individuals not wishing to be teaching professionals anymore,” he said. “So, I think the scholarships that we injected into that system, the increase in pay into that system has helped with that attrition and that recidivism, which is hugely beneficial to the student population.”

During Lombardo’s first Legislature, Nevada surged its two-year K-12 education budget by a historic $2.6 billion. Amid less incoming state revenue than expected, the increase at the 2025 session was flatter, raising the per-pupil spending by only $2.

Nevada spends $15,056 per student annually, nearly $2,800 below the United States average, according to the Nevada State Education Association.

Under Lombardo’s tenure, the state climbed three spots in the national average to No. 33.

He also noted that teacher pay and academic metrics were trending upward.

“Our math measurements and our literacy measurements have increased significantly, over 10 percent year over year in that space,” he said.

His campaign noted that enrollment for 4-year-old students had increased by 9 percent in the last year, and that graduation rates last year improved by 4 percent.

Suspensions at the Clark County School District were down 16 percent in three years, and expulsions were down 25 percent over the last year, his campaign said. Chronic absenteeism had dropped 10 percent since 2022, and bullying cases were also experiencing decreases.

Lombardo is a proponent of school choice and has had success in implementing some of his proposals like statewide open enrollment and a grant program to aid students with transportation.

Nevada also opted into the pro-school choice Federal Scholarship Tax Credit under the Trump administration that will allow individual taxpayers claim up to $1,700 in credit for donations to scholarship programs.

“As we move forward, we’re going to have to build on that attempt to increase school choice availability,” he said. “You know, utilization of the federal tax credit that’s coming from the Trump administration, and … opportunity scholarships. And we will increase the amount that is dedicated to that through the legislative process.”

Challenger’s background as math teacher

Ford has brought up his education background at recent Las Vegas town halls and has an extensive list of policy proposals on his campaign website.

His campaign did not make him available for an interview for this story.

At the town hall events, Ford touted his degrees, including a doctorate in education administration, and has talked about previously being a third grade teacher.

He’s trained his rhetoric on attacking Lombardo.

“You’re not really respecting the institution,” he said about the $2 per pupil spending increase at the last Legislature.

“This man just had an executive order supposedly bailing out the district,” Ford said about the recent emergency item. “You know he got signed there six months ago, right?”

Ford also criticized Lombardo after the governor vetoed a $43 million bill in 2023 that would have extended a free school lunch program instituted during the pandemic.

Lombardo defended his decision in a veto message.

“These funding sources are no longer available, and district officials should build programs appropriate to their needs. With COVID-19 behind us, it is time to return to the normalcy of pre-pandemic operations,” he wrote.

Lombardo added that universal free lunch would increase food purchases leading to additional food waste.

As governor, Ford said he would sign a similar bill.

“I was one of those hungry kids sitting in the classroom with my stomach growling, not able to concentrate and be able to retain as much information as necessary,” he said recently. “I was a teacher teaching those kids whose stomach was growling. You know, Joe Lombardo could have done something about this.”

As governor, he would work to improve literacy rates and expand early childhood education, according to his campaign. Ford’s policies would extend the opportunities to rural Nevada.

Before taking the attorney general’s office in 2019, Ford was the Nevada Senate majority leader.

As a legislator, Ford helped pass bipartisan legislation to increase education funding, recruit teachers and provide scholarships to students and prospective teachers, his campaign noted.

If elected governor, Ford would push to increase K-12 funding to bring per-pupil spending above the national average, and try to claw back federal dollars lost when the Trump administration eliminated the Department of Education, according to a platform posted on his campaign website.

“He will prioritize funding student-facing positions, set expectations around how much funding is going into instruction vs. administration, and be willing to cut programs or curriculum that aren’t producing results for our students,” according to his platform.

Ford’s website says he also wants to see reduced class sizes, well-maintained schools and access to mental health programs. The website also lists proposals to increase attendance and hold students accountable.

It doesn’t address his position on school choice.